Feeding mechanism for stencil-blanks.



, S. ELLIOTT.

FEEDING MECHANSM FOR STENCIL BLANKS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. e, I9Is.

Imm@

STERLING EL'LOTT, OlE NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FEDENG MECHANISM FOR STENCIL-BLANKS.

llthld. @riginal application filed. September 16,

Specification of Letters Patent.

lPatentedl dan., 2, i917.

1915, Serial No. 51,096. Divided and this application led March 6,1916. serial no. aasiv.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, STERLING ELLIOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State yof Massachusetts, have invented an lmprcvement in Feeding Mechanisms for Stencil-Blanks, of which the following is a specification.

Certain forms of stencil-blanks or stencils adapted for use in addressing machines and machines of this type, comprise a` frame with a center opening and a piece of thin paper, such as mimeograph paper, extended over the opening of the frame and iXed thereto, on which the address or other matter, is impressed. These stencil-blanks are usually arranged in a pile at one end of the machine and adapted to be fed orward, seriatifm., by a suitable feeding device, usually in the form of a blade-like pusher, the lowermost stencil of the pile being removed edgewise by and upon each operation of the pusher. lt occasionally happens thatthe frame of the lowermost stencil-blank catches on the frame of the adjacent stencil-blank and results in injuring one or blanks and usually destroying them. While the cost of the stencil-blanks is but little, yet the trouble, annoyance and time consumed in removing the injured blanks from the machine, and in providing new blanks, is of such moment that serious objections are sometimes raised te the employment of stencil-blanks of this iorm.

l have discovered that stencil-blank, or the pile ci3 blanks iny auch relation to the `feeding pusher, that said pusher, whenadvancing, will ilrst engage one end-portion orv corner oit a blank and subsequently, as the `feeding movement is continued, will engage the other end-portion or corner thereof, as contrasted with engaging the edge oi the blank thronghont its length, that stencil-blank thus engaged will be turned with respect to the adjacent blank while it is being so moved, and the objection above notel will be overcome. The pile ci stencil-blanks may be arranged at an angle other vthan a right angle w respect to the engaging the pusher, and when thus arranged en without snbstantial alteration ot re, the lowermost stencil-blank ot the p will be turned with respect to adjacei. a

by arranging the i blank, as it is both stencilremoved by the pusher from the bottom of My invention, therefore, involves broadly giving the stencil-blank a turning movement with respect to an adjacent blank, as it is being moved out of engagement therewith.

The invention, therefore, has or its object, an arrangement of a pile of stencils with respect to the feeding pusher, whereby a corner of the lowermost stencil ot the pile will be engaged by the feeding pusher in advance of the other corner thereof, thereby to turn said stencil with respect to the stencil above it, preparatory to or during its removal from the holding receptacle, thus to facilitate its removal by preventing its frame from catching on the trame of the stencil above it.

Figure l is a plan view of the feeding mechanism for stencil-blanks embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the dotted line -w Fig. l, a port-ion of the trame being broken away. Fig. 3 is a transverse section, and, Fig. l is a plan view illustratin the turning oi the stencil-blank.

ln the illustration, here shown, of my invention the same may be associated with a machine for moistening the stencil-blanks, but as will bereadily understood, it may be associated with any other machine for manipulating stencil-blanks, such as addressing machines where the stencil-blanks are arranged in, or adapted to be arranged in a pile.

The main frame-work l has a table 2 with a 'lat top. @n said table a pair or" guiding and supporting elements for the stencilblanks are arranged, said elements being made as opposites and designated at 4f and 5. Each said element has a pair ot lips arranged with a narrow space between them. to form guide-way for the stencil-blanks, and said elements are arranged on the table, in a horizontal lane, and disposed to receive the stencillanks between them with the ends oi the blank arranged in and free to move along the guide-way formed by them, the stencil-blanks resting on the lower lips. Superimposed on each said element is an upright end-guide 6, said guides being made substantially alike but as opposites, and having channel in one side, and said end-guides are arranged with their channels facing each other. The upper lips ci the guiding and supporting elements are cut away coeXtensive with the channels of the end-guides to admit of a pile of stencilblanks which are arranged between said guides and in the channels thereof to rest on the lower lips of the guiding and supporting elements, in order that the lowermost stencil-blank of the pile may be removed edgewise from the bottom of the pile and moved along the guide-ways of the guiding and supporting elements. A slidingpusher is provided for moving the stencilblanks forward, one at a time, which is here shown in Fig. 1 as a plate 8, having its forward edge recessed intermediate its length to form a pair of stencil-blank engaging-portions 9, or in lieu thereof, to otherwise form an engaging-portion for the stencil-blanks.

f The sliding-pusher is made of a width substantially equal to the length of the stencilblank. The plate 8 is secured to the top of a block 12, which is supported on a horizontally di osed sliding-bar 13, arranged in bearings eneath the table. Apin 14 extends downward from the block 12, to which is loosely connected one end of a link 15, the other end of which link is connected to the extremity of one arm 16, of a bell-crank lever, pivoted at 17, the other arm 18 of which lever has' connected with it, by a universaljoint, one end of a link 19, the other end, of which link is connected by a universal-joint with a crank-arm 20, arranged on a shaft 21, having its bearings in the frame-work and to which a hand-crank 22 is secured. The hand-crank 22 is adapted, upon each complete rotation, to move the sliding-pusher forward a distance equal to the width of a stencil-blank, and to return the same to its normal'position preparatory to engaging the next stencil-blank of the pile. 1n lieu of this form of feeding-means for the stencilblanks, other `forms may be employed adapted to feed forward the stencil-blanks one at a time.

The holding-means for the pile of stencilblanks is'arranged to hold the stencil-blanks at an angle other than the right angle to the engaging edge of the sliding pusher. When thus arranged, it will be observed that on an advancing movement of the pusher, one end-portion of the engaging edge thereof will engage a corresponding end-portion or corner of the lowermost stencil-blank of the pile, and will advance said end-portion or corner and thereby turn the blank angularly with respect `to the blank above it until the other end-portion of the engaging edge of the pusher engages the other endportion or corner of the blank, and thereafter the blank will be advanced in line with the pusher. The result of turning the lowermost blank of the pile, when removing it, is thus accomplished by the arrangement of the component parts without any sub- 'invent-ion any similar 'spect to the path of turn the blank with narrates stantial alteration in the structure, but while such structure is simple, yet my invention is not limited thereto, as 1 desire to broadly include within the spirit and scope of my or equivalent means by which the stencil-blank is turned with relation to the blank above it or an adjacent blank while being removed from the bottom of the pile, thereby to avoid the catching of one blank upon another.

1 claim 1. A. receptacle for a pile of stencil blanks, and a pusher arranged to remove the lowermost blank edgewise from the pile, the blank and the engaging edge of the pusher being normally not in parallelism, but adapted to be brought into this position by the engagement of the blank at one corner by 4the pusher.

2. A receptacle for a pile of stencil-blanks, and a sliding pusher for removing the lowermost blank edgewise from the pile, the stencil-blanks being held out of parallel relation with the pusher, and adapted to be moved bythe pusher into parallel relation therewith as the blank is being removed from the receptacle.

3. A receptacle for a pile of stencil-blanks, and a sliding pusher for removing the lowermost blank edgewise from the pile, the stencil-blanks being arranged at an angle other than a right angle with respect to the engaging edge of the pusher, and adapted to be moved into parallel relation therewith by the pusher while the latter is removing it from the receptacle.

4. A receptacle for a pile of stencil-blanks, and a sliding pusher for removing the lowermost blankl from the pile, said receptacle being arranged to hold the stencil-blanks at an angle lother than a right angle with removement of the pusher and said blanks being movable into right angular relation therewith by the pusher while being removed from the receptacle.

5. A receptacle for a pile of stencil-blanks, and means for removing the stencil-blanks edgewise therefrom, said means adapted to engage one end-portion in advance ofthe other end-portion. i

6. A receptacle for a pile of stencil-blanks, and means .for removing the lowermostblank edgewise from the pile, said means being adapted to engage one end-portion in advance of the other end-portion, thereby to respect to the adjacent lank.

7. A receptacle for a pile of stencil-blanks comprising end-guides and guiding and supporting-means for a stencil-blank upon which said end-guides are disposed, said end-guides being arranged at an angle with respect to the guiding and supportingmeans, and a reciprocating sliding-pusher arranged to engage the lcwermost stencilblank of the pile, one end-portion of said blank in advance of the other, and push said blank along the guiding" and supportingmeans.

S. A receptacle for a pile of stencil-blanks, and means arranged to remove the lowermost blank edgewise 'from the pile, the blank and the engaging edge of the moving means being normally not in parallelism, but adapted to be brought into this position by the engagement of the blank at one corner by the moving means.

9. A receptacle for a pile of horizontally arranged stencilblanks,'and a sliding pusher arranged to remove the edgewise from the pile, the blank and the engaging edgewf the pusher being normally not in paallelism but movable into this p0- sition by th'e engagement of the blank at one corner by the pusher, thereby to turn the blank in a horizontal plane With respect to the blank above it.

10. A receptacle for a. pile of stencilblanks and a sliding pusher arranged to move the lowermost blank edgewise Jfrom the pile, said pusher engaging irst one and then the other end-portion or corner of the blank, thereby turning it With respect to the blank above it while removing it.

11. A receptacle for a pile of stencilblanks, and a sliding pusher arranged to move the lowermost blank edgevvise from the pile, the blank being normally not in parallelism with the engaging edge of the pusher, but movable by the pusher into parallelism with its engaging edge during the first part of its stroke and subsequently movable bodily by the pusher during the latter part of its stroke.

1Q. A receptacle blanks, and means for a pile of stencilarranged to engage the ranged in alinement and the receptac lovvermost blanku edge of the lowermost blank of the pile and to turn said blank With respect to the blank above it during the irst part of its stroke and upon continued movement thereof in the same direction to remove said blank from the pile Without further turning it.

13. A receptacle for a pile of stencilblanks, guiding and supporting means for the blanks and a pusher, said guiding and supporting means and the pusher beinlg re ehold the pile of blanks out of parallelism With the engaging edge of the pusher so that the lovvermost blank of the pile will be thus arranged preparatory to its being engaged by the pusher, and the pusher adapted to act during the irst part of its stroke to turn said loWermost blank in a horizontal plane into alining position with the pusher and the guiding and supporting means, and during the remainder o its stroke to move said blank along the guiding and supporting means.

14. A receptacle for a pile of stencilblanks, a pusher arranged to engage the edge of the loWermost blank of the pile and to turn said blank 'in a horizontal plane into angular relation with the blank above it during the :first part of its stroke, and then upon further movement in the same direction'to move said angularly related blank in a direct line along the bottom of the pile to remove it therefrom.

In testimony whereof, ll have signed my name to this specification in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

STERLlNG ELLOTT.

ing arranged to Witnesses:

B. J. Norms, H.. B. DAVIS. 

